Merkel makes first foreign trip as chancellor to Paris
Angela Merkel was heading for Paris for talks with French President Jacques Chirac today, embarking on her first foreign trip as Germany’s new chancellor.
Merkel, who was sworn yesterday, has pledged to uphold Germany’s traditionally close relationship with France at the heart of the European Union.
However, her visit to Germany’s western neighbour, the first stop in a tour of Western capitals for her and her foreign minister, will be watched closely for signs of any shift in policy from the EU’s most-populous nation.
Merkel, who was to have lunch with Chirac in Paris before travelling on to Brussels, has suggested she will seek better ties with smaller European nations.
She is also expected to invigorate relations with Washington bruised by her predecessor Gerhard Schroeder’s rejection of the war in Iraq.
But she will be constrained by the presence of Schroeder’s Social Democrats as equal partners with her conservatives in the new German coalition government.
